Why Hillary Clinton's Comments About Nancy Reagan Still Matter

[tabasco]

Hillary Clinton may have quickly apologized for her comments on Friday praising fellow former First Lady Nancy Reagan for her "effective" and "low key advocacy" on HIV and AIDS, but for many the remarks are still problematic.

Michelle Goldberg noted in Slate how absurd the former Secretary of State's comments were, given that the Reagan administration publicly laughed at the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. Nancy Reagan did little to sway her husband, Goldberg said.

"In policy terms, Clinton’s misguided praise for Nancy Reagan doesn't mean much; there’s certainly no reason to think she’d follow Reagan’s disgraceful example as president," Goldberg wrote. "But her words suggest that, on some deep level, she really is out of touch with progressive concerns."

Richard Kim wrote in The Nation that giving the Reagans credit for starting a conversation about HIV and AIDS was like giving George Wallace, the racist Alabama governor, credit for starting a national conversation about segregation. Kim wrote that while he did not think Clinton's comments signaled a shift on gay rights, they did show a lack of empathy to and awareness about HIV positive people and the gay community.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-nancy-reagan-aids_us_56e44622e4b0860f99d93d02

[AzDar]

1. K & R

[shawn703]

2. Out of touch with progressive concerns

But in touch with the concerns of bankers.

[farleftlib]

3. It matters a great deal

K & R

[DrFunkenstein]

4. She Also Misspoke About Taking Sniper Fire

"I say a lot of things -- millions of words a day -- so if I misspoke, that was just a misstatement."

-Clinton on accidentally speaking these words:

"I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."